Hinge for play pens



July 25, 1961 A. McPHADEN 2,993,225

HINGE FOR PLAY PENS Filed July 2, 1958 INVENTOR.

LAWRENCE R. MCPHADEN a/ZZZMM,

2,993,225 HINGE FOR PLAY PENS Lawrence A. McPhaden, Maple Ave., Lake City, Pa. Filed July 2, 1958, Ser. No. 746,251 2 Claims. (Cl. 16- 139) This invention relates to combination hinges and latches for play pens and, more particularly, to the art of play yards and such hinges in combination therewith.

In play yards made according to previous designs, the hinges were usually connected along the lateral outside of the side rails so that the side rails could be folded inwardly and a latch was provided on the outside. The position of the latch was such that a child occupying the play yard could easily be injured by the latch and, also, the latch was conspicuously located which would tempt the child to release it. Other combination hinges and latches which have been previously proposed have been subject to inadvertent release and have not been positive in their holding power to hold the play yard rails in extended position.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an improved combination hinge and latch with a play yard which is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and simple and eflicient to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved combination hinge and latch for hingedly interconnecting and releasably latching together the collapsible and movable parts or sections of a collapsible or foldable piece of furniture, especially, a collapsible childs play yard.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved combination hinge and latch with a play yard by means of which two movable parts of the play yard members may be hingedly connected at the same time or releasably latched together.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a bottom view of a hinge and latch in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the combination hinge and latch taken on line 22 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a play yard having the combination hinge and latch attached thereto; and

FIG. 4 is a view of the combination hinge and latch shown in FIG. 1 with the latch closed.

Now with more specific reference to the drawing, a preferred form of the present invention is shown in the drawing and is shown indicated generally by the numeral associated with a collapsible or foldable play yard which has the form of a childs play yard 11. The play yard 11 includes a wall 12 having two collapsible parts or sections 13 and 14 connected together by means of the combination hinge and latch 10. An entire play yard of a conventional type having sides is intended to be depicted by the sections 13 and 14.

The combination hinge and latch 16 comprises two hinged sections or plates 114 and which are adapted 2,993,225 Patented July 25, 1961 ice to be attached to the movable parts or sections 13 and 14 of the wall 12 by means of fastening elements which are shown as having the form of screws 16 or the like. The two hinged sections or plates 114 and 15 are hingedly or pivotally connected together at 17 by means of a bolt, rivet, or the like. The rivet 17 is received in a hole in an ear 81 which constitutes the bar of a T and is integrally attached to the plate 114. The plate 15 is L- shaped.

Formed into the hinged plate section 15 is an opening with a slot 18 extending outwardly from each side thereof. The opening 80 receives a threaded bolt 19 which has a wing nut 20 on one side thereof and a head 28 on the other side thereof. The bolt 19 is received in the opening 80 in the section 15 and in a slot 22 in the section 114 when the play yard wall 12 is in the extended position shown in FIG. 3. The slot 22 is in the form of an arc with its center at 17.

The material adjacent the opening 80 is struck downwardly to form a downwardly extending elongated rib 21 on the section 15 extending down on each side of the opening 80. The rib 21 is formed by a struck down portion forming the slot 18 and the corresponding rib 24 in the section 114 is formed by struck down portions on each side of a terminus end 26 of the slot 22. The struck down portions 18 and 25 leave, in effect, a slot thereabove. The slot 18, formed by downwardly struck rib 21, receives the rib 24 as shown in FIG. 2 when the play yard is in the extended position and the plate 114 is swung to bring the slot 22 around the bolt 19 in the terminus end 26 of the slot 22. Therefore, when the wing nut 20 is tightened on the bolt 19, the rib 24 is squeezed down into the slot 18 and, therefore, the sections 114 and 15 are clamped in rigid relation to each other and the wall sections 13 and 14 are prevented from being further extended.

A hinge similar to the hinge shown in FIG. 1 may be provided at or, in this hinge, the slot 22 and associated bolt 19 may be omitted or the hinge 110 could take the shape and form of any other suitable type of hinge.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A hinge adapted to be attached to two walls of a play yard, said walls each having a top rail and a bottom ra'il spaced from each other, said hinge comprising a first section and a second section of flat material attached to the bottom surface of said top rail, means pivotally connecting said first section and said second section together, an opening in said first section, a slot in said second section, said slot being open at one end and spaced from said pivotal connection of said two sections and formed in an arc of a circle with its center at said pivotal connection, a rib on said second section struck downwardly and extending on each side of said slot, a bolt extending through said opening in said first section and into said slot in said second section, said second section being adapted to swing about said pivotal connection between said first section and said second sec- 3 tion when said walls are swung relative to each other whereby said bolt moves into said slot through said open end, and a slot in said first section extending on each side of said opening, said bolt urging said rib on said second section into said slot in said first section.

2. The hinge recited in claim 1 wherein said first section is L-shaped and said second section is T-shaped, said means pivotally connecting said first section and said second section comprising a rivet extending through the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miller Sept. 26, Se-ay Aug. 13, Swartz Sept. 5, Lukala July 9, 

